It is generally desirable to store drinks, such as sports drinks, protein drinks, baby formula or other drinkable dietary supplements, in a ready-to-drink form in which the contents are already combined and mixed. This allows the drink to be packaged in a can, bottle or other container, such that the container need only be opened for the drink to be consumed.
In some instances however, it isn't desirable to package drinks in a pre-mixed state, as this can lead to an undesirably short product shelf life. To at least partially address this issue, containers have been contemplated in which two or more of the drink constituents may be separately stored in the one container assembly and combined shortly before consuming the drink. The applicant's existing International Patent Application PCT/AU2012/001072 contemplates such an assembly. Specifically, the applicant's existing application contemplates a fluid (for example, water) being stored in a container portion of an assembly, and a powdered dietary supplement separately stored in a compartment within or adjacent a container lid portion of the assembly. The assembly is designed for relatively simply and quickly adding the powder to the fluid prior to drinking the combined contents, following which the assembly can be discarded.
Other assemblies known to the applicant include those specifically designed for separately storing water and a supplement in tablet form within the one assembly. The tablet is then added to the water (and at least partially dissolved) shortly prior to drinking the combined contents.
Typically, existing assemblies include a release mechanism for releasing the solid constituent into the fluid. These assemblies (including that disclosed in the applicant's International Patent Application PCT/AU2012/001072) are usually designed to be single-use assemblies. That is, the solid constituent is added to the fluid and the combined contents are then consumed, following which the assembly is discarded. These types of assemblies provide no way of reloading (or refilling) the assembly with a solid constituent that can again be separately stored within the assembly from the fluid constituent.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a container assembly in which the contents may be stored for a relatively long time prior to combining and consuming and then, following consumption of the contents, at least a portion of the container assembly can be re-used to again separately store a solid substance and a fluid.
It would also be desirable to provide such an assembly in a relatively portable form that is easily stored and transported.
Further, it would also be desirable to provide an arrangement capable of storing, combining and dispensing a range of ingredients for a range of possible uses, and not necessarily limited to ingestible ingredients.
While the applicant has already contemplated an at least partially re-usable assembly, the applicant perceives that a further re-designed assembly may provide possible improvements and/or a possible range of new uses for such an assembly.